Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Shadow Tides
by Old Account - See Profile
Summary: A totodile forever overshadowed by his brother. An oshawott with a mysterious past. A torchic who wants to punish the evildoers who attacked her home. A noctowl hiding a huge secret. And a human-turned-cyndaquil who might just be able to save them all...before the shadows win. Picture from /pokemon .wikia. com/ wiki /Lugia (without the spaces).
1. I am Skye

" _Skye!"_

The word rang in my head again and again. Skye. A pretty word, beautiful as the huge blue sky that stretched over the world like a dome.

Skye. That was my name.

Or was it? It could've been a warning, like "Watch out, the sky is falling!". It could've been the color of my eyes: sky blue. But...were my eyes sky blue? With a jolt of terror, I realized that I didn't know. I didn't know what color my eyes were, or what I looked like. I didn't know what I'd been doing before now. Though I knew I was supposed to have a family, I didn't know who they were. I didn't know my life before this very moment. I knew how the world worked, how to live, how to think. But I didn't know who I was (other than knowing that I was a human), or why I was underwater, foaming waves swirling around me.

I might've floated like that forever, if I hadn't realized that I needed to breathe. Panic surging in my chest, I frantically tried to swim, but the water dragged me back down, even though I wasn't wearing any clothes, which was weird. Even stranger, the water seemed to be weakening me. How was that possible? Water wasn't supposed to do that...was it?

A torturous minute passed. I tried to hold my breath, but I couldn't help propelling salty water into my lungs. Every attempt I made at swimming only made me weaker. Just as I was accepting the fact that I would drown, I felt strong hands grab onto my shoulders. The cold night air chilled my bones as I was pulled out of the sea. As I was about to look up at my rescuer, I noticed something in the water: my reflection. But the reflection was not mine.

It was the reflection of a cyndaquil.

Then the wind and the cold became too much, and I passed out.

…

"Is she alive?"

"Of course. She just hasn't woken up yet."

"There's no flame on her...her…"

"Her _rear_? Her _bottom_? Her _bu-_ "

"Shut up, Wooper!"

I slowly opened my eyes, wondering what could possibly be going on. I lay on my stomach on a bed of leaves and moss in a small cave. Light filtered in through a hole in the roof, making the place seem almost cozy. Around me stood a wooper, a bayleef, and a totodile, though they looked somewhat larger than usual.

"Oh, good! You've woken up!" the bayleef exclaimed.

"W-what happened?" I managed to ask. Questions were welling up in my throat, but my mouth felt partially frozen and slightly elongated.

"Totodile - or, as everyone calls him, Puddle - found you lying unconscious in a cave by the coast, so he brought you over to his house and called me over. Wooper here just tagged along."

"How are you talking to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a human, right?"

"No, you're a cyndaquil."

 _WHAT?_ I couldn't be a cyndaquil. This couldn't be happening. I waved a hand in front of my face, but I only saw a paw. I bolted from my bed to a puddle. Somehow, it was hard to walk on two feet. I was leaning over too far. I was going to fall!

Just as I fell, my front paws darted out and stopped my descent. Before long, I was running swiftly on all fours, reaching the puddle in seconds. When I looked in, I wanted to scream. There was no human face. There was only the reflection of a cyndaquil.

"No! NO!" I shrieked.

"Are you okay?" Wooper asked, a concerned look on his face.

"No, I'm not okay! Do you see what I've become?"

"Weren't you always a cyndaquil?"

"No, I wasn't! I was a human!"

Suddenly, I felt warmth on my back. Flames were bursting from the red spots!

"Um...sweetie...can I ask you some questions? In a little bit, we'll go to see Lugia. If anyone knows what happened to you, he does! I'm Bayleef, by the way," Bayleef murmured soothingly.

"Okay," I replied.

"So, what happened?"

"I was underwater, and then somebody pulled me out, and then I fainted, and now I'm here."

"But how did you _get_ underwater?"

"I...I don't remember."

"Where are you from?"

"Um...I don't remember that, either."

"What _do_ you remember?"

"I was a human. My name was Skye."

As I said those words, I became aware of just how little I remembered.

"Well, what we have here is a severe case of amnesia. Skye must've bumped her head on a rock or something. Her memories will probably come back soon." Bayleef announced, turning to Puddle. She then turned back to me. "Why don't you get some rest?"

Rest seemed like the last thing I needed, as my head was boiling with questions. But as I settled back onto my bed, I realized just how tired I was. I could barely keep my eyes open. So, I gave in to my exhaustion and closed my eyes.

…

Shadows. Hundreds of them, circling around me. They were everywhere. And they were coming closer. I tried to run, but my feet seemed to be stuck to the ground.

"Puddle! Bayleef! Wooper! Help!" I cried. Nobody came. Desperately, I called for a pokemon I'd only ever heard of.

"Lugia! LUGIA! HELP!"

I rattled names of random pokemon off of my mind.

"Ho-oh! Koffing! Ratticate!"

"Yesss?"

I whipped my head around to see a mass of pokemon. Shadows darkened their fur and pooled around their feet. Their eyes glowed purple with hatred.

"No!" I yelled. "No! NO! HELP!"

There was a whoosh of air above me, and I looked up. Overhead was a black, almost humanish pokemon with a white lump on top of its head. Darkrai, the nightmare pokemon. Of course! This was just a nightmare. It couldn't hurt me...right? I closed my eyes, concentrating on waking up. This was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a-

"This isn't just a dream." Darkrai whispered. "It's a-"

Darkrai was cut off by a flash of purple light. Purple light, ripping the darkness from my mind. Purple light, forcing my eyes open.

I was awake.

…

I sat up, my chest heaving. Smoke wafted in front of my face, and I realized that I'd accidentally set my bed on fire. After quickly stamping out the flames, I tried to settle back into bed, but the shadows in the cave were too large for me to be calm. They reminded me of the horrible shadows in my dream.

Wait - were they...moving? Yes, they were. They were stretching, coming towards me like waves during high tide. Yes, it was a shadow tide. Just as it was in my dream, I couldn't move. They were all around me.

"Bayleef! Puddle! Help!" I cried. A moment later, Bayleef came rushing in.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Sh-shadows…" I stammered.

"Oh, don't worry. It was just a bad dream, that was all."

I nodded, trying to be reassured. But somewhere in my mind, Darkrai's words repeated again and again.

" _This isn't just a dream."_


	2. Stormvale Square

"Welcome to Stormvale Square, the center of Stormvale Island!" Puddle exclaimed. Climbing over one final sandy ridge, I saw what he was speaking about. It wasn't exactly the town I'd been expecting. It was more like several dozen tents along a few roads, with a square-shaped clearing in the middle. Behind the tents, a large waterfall splattered down from a stone cliff.

As we walked closer to the settlement, Puddle pointed out several important places.

"That's Kangaskhan Storage, and that's Duskull Bank." Puddle said, pointing at a kangaskhan-shaped building and a duskull-shaped tent. He then pointed at a green tent that looked like a kecleon head, and continued. "That's Kecleon Market, and next to it is Electivire Links, where you can link two of your moves together so that you can use them both in a row!"

I nodded, somewhat confused about the whole move-using thing.

"Now, the brown tent across the road is Bouffalant's Box Opening, and next to it is Miltank's Cafe. And over there is the Central Square, with the Rescue Billboard." Puddle explained as we neared the central clearing. Though the land was still mostly sand and rocks with the occasional spot of grass, palm trees had begun to appear more frequently as the clearing came closer.

"What's the Rescue Billboard?" I asked.

"If someone needs help with something mystery dungeon related, they pin requests to the board for rescue teams to take." Puddle replied. I cocked my head, confused.

"What's a mystery dungeon, and what's a rescue team?"I asked.

"A mystery dungeon is any place where the layout changes every time you enter, and where there are several floors that you must use stairs to get to. They're usually filled with hostile pokemon. The purpose of a rescue team is to explore these places and to help pokemon with concerns related to them. For example, a rescue team might rescue a pokemon trapped inside of a mystery dungeon, or capture an outlaw that's there." Puddle explained. "One day, I'm gonna be the best rescue team member ever!"

"You're part of a rescue team?"

"Well, no. I have to get some teammates first. But then, I can be in the best rescue team ever!"

"Are there any rescue teams here?"

"Of course! There's a lot!"

"Is there a Team Rocket?"

Puddle gave me a confused look. "There's no Team Rocket around here. I don't even know what a rocket is. Did you remember something?'

"No," I said, shrugging. "It just seemed like a familiar name."

"Well, when we see Lugia, we can ask him about it. Lugia is very wise."

All of a sudden, my stomach growled.

"Can we get some lunch?" I inquired.

"Of course!" Puddle replied, pointing at Miltank's Cafe. Nodding to him, I walked in. Puddle followed.

Inside of the tent, I saw several tables and chairs, most of them full of pokemon. Good smells wafted from the counter, where two miltank stood.

"What would you like?" a miltank asked, handing Puddle and me menus. Immediately, I could tell what foods I had eaten (because I could remember what they tasted like) and what food I didn't like. I liked tomato soup, but the only tomato soup on the menu had chilli flakes in it. There was pizza, but I was pretty sure that I'd had pizza too many times in a row. Most of the food options were made of berries or pokeblocks, which I'd never had before. Well, today was as good a day to try some as any other day.

"I think I'll have the berry kabab." I replied.

"And I'll have the jalapeno spaghetti." Puddle said.

"What berries would you like on your kabab? We have oran berries, pecha berries, rawst berries, lum berries, nanab berries, magost berries, and passho berries." the miltank asked.

"Umm...I'll have lum berries." I murmured, picking a random berry.

"That'll be twenty-five poke."

Puddle dug around in his pouch, pulling out twenty-five yellow coins with a capital P on each after a few seconds. After giving them to the miltank, he guided me to a table by the edge of the tent. After a few minutes, our food arrived. I bit my kabab, and sweet juicyness ran down my tongue. Just then, a gardevoir, a froslass, and a flygon sat down at the table next to us.

"That's Team Arcane!" he whispered excitedly. "They're the best rescue team in Stormvale Island! Act normal!"

"What, are you _seriously thinking_ that they'll invite you into their team?" snorted a noctowl sitting at a table on the other side of us. Beside him were a steelix and an ariados.

"Eat fire, Noctowl!" Puddle yelled, throwing a jalapeno pepper into the offender's mouth. Unscathed, Noctowl swallowed the pepper.

"Now, I don't want to have some immature food fight. Your patheticness has inspired me to sell you this attack-raising seed for fifty poke." Noctowl offered, holding out a blue seed with purple flecks.

"Thirty poke."

"Fifty."

"Thirty-five."

"Fifty."

"Forty, and that is my final offer!"

"Fifty, or the deal's off."

"Fine." Puddle pulled out fifty coins and handed them to Noctowl. Noctowl then popped the seed into his mouth, croaked out two words: " _Warp seed!_ " - and vanished.

"You crooks!" I shrieked, as Noctowl's companions fled from the cafe. I chased them through the bustling streets, until smooth roads gave way to bare sand and the two swindlers ducked into a cave. I was about to follow them, but then Puddle's voice rang out from behind me.

"That's a mystery dungeon! You can't go in alone!"

I spun around to see Puddle standing behind me.

"You're right," I said. "There are too many of them to fight. But I know who can fight them for us."

…

With our request securely pinned to the Rescue Board, Puddle and I set out toward the waterfall to speak to Lugia.

"Aside from being our mayor, Lugia also runs a training program for new rescue teams, though he recently required the senior rescue teams to rejoin for a while, so Lugia could reassess their skills." Puddle explained. "After Politoed left, Lugia chose Honchkrow as his deputy, so the two of them basically run Stormvale Island." As he spoke, we reached the waterfall. The bright, clear water trickled down into a huge pit, where it pooled into a lake. A spiraling set of stairs led down into the cavern.

"Here we are! Welcome to Luminous Lake, where Lugia resides!" Puddle exclaimed. Nervously, I followed him down the stairs. As we reached the bottom, I saw the large, white shape of Lugia beneath the water.

"Lugia!" Puddle cried. I gasped as Lugia rose from the lake. He was so huge, much larger than I had ever pictured him.

"Who is that cyndaquil?" Lugia asked, his voice echoing across the cavern.

"I-I'm Skye." I stammered.

"And where do you come from?"

"I d-don't remember anything but being pulled out of the ocean. Then, Puddle found me."

"You say you cannot remember anything, but you somehow know your name?"

"W-well, I re-remember my name, and the fact that I was a human, and what food I'd t-tasted…"

Somehow, the way Lugia spoke and looked gave the impression that I could tell him anything. When I spoke about being a human, Lugia's eyes glinted in delight.

"You were a human? Skye, that is wonderful news! Wonderful news for the whole pokemon world!" Lugia exclaimed.

"WHAT?" I shouted. I was just a cyndaquil that knew barely anything. How could that be wonderful?

"Over the years, there have been several pokemon that were once humans, and several that claimed to have once been humans. Of this matter we know very little, but I can tell you of several humans that turned into pokemon and went on to save the world."

My heart hammered in my chest. Was I really going to save the world? I thought of all the pokemon that saved the world. Surely, for every pokemon that saved the world, there was one that failed to save it. I shuddered, thinking of what it would be like to die a failure, being remembered as nothing but The Pokemon That Failed.

"So," Lugia murmured, leaning closer. "Do you know anything about your purpose here? Have you seen any signs?"

"Signs?" I said confusedly.

"Signs. Visions, omens, prophecies, strange dreams."

"Well, I had a dream that there were shadows everywhere, and I couldn't move. The shadows were kind of...possessing a bunch of pokemon. And then I looked up and saw Darkrai."

Lugia's eyes widened. "Darkrai! Of course! He was known for doing many terrible things before being defeated by a human-turned-pokemon. He must be up to no good again…we will just have to wait and see."

Something about Lugia's logic seemed off to me, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Um...so anyway, do you know anything that could bring Skye's memories back?" Puddle asked.

"I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do." Lugia replied sadly.

"Also, do you know of a Team Rocket?" I inquired.

"Alas, I do not even know what a rocket is." Lugia said, shaking his head.

"Well, I hope we learn something soon. Thanks for your help!"

"You are welcome. I hope to see you again soon."

And with that said, Puddle and I walked back up the stairs to Stormvale Square.

Though I'd thought that visiting Lugia would make everything clearer, it seemed like what I had learned only made things worse.


	3. Sneasel

Puddle and I slowly walked back to Stormvale Square, feeling disappointed at our lack of information. Actually, I was more angry than disappointed. It was all so unfair. It seemed like the entire world was punishing me for something I didn't remember doing. First I nearly drowned, now I was expected to save the world? I couldn't even fight!

"Help!"

The sudden cry jerked me out of my thoughts. Turning towards the noise, I saw a sneasel running around Stormvale Center panickedly.

"Somebody! Anybody! Help!" the sneasel screeched desperately.

"What is it? What's the problem?" Puddle asked, rushing toward the sneasel.

"I was traveling through this mystery dungeon called Misty Cavern when a corsola came and stole ALL MY GUMMIES! AND MY REVIVER SEEDS! AND MY ORAN BERRIES! AND MY MONEY!" the sneasel wailed, showing Puddle her empty pouch. "I need someone to go with me to defeat the corsola!"

"YES! I-I mean, me! I'm going! That is, if you want me to. You want me to, don't you? Right? Please? PLEASE? I've been waiting for an opportunity like this MY WHOLE LIFE! YOU CAN'T TURN ME DOWN! PLE-" Puddle cried.

"Stop making a fool of yourself!" I muttered.

"R-right. Um...can I accompany you on your mission?" Puddle stammered.

"Of course! Thank you so much! I'm Sneasel, by the way." Sneasel exclaimed. "Just to warn you, Misty Cavern is VERY foggy and dark."

"Oh! Um...in that case...Skye, would you like to come with us?"

I stared at Puddle, dumbfounded. Was he kidding me or something?

"I don't know what moves I can use. I've never battled before." I replied.

"You seem like you're level five, so your flames aren't fully developed yet. You can probably use Tackle and Leer." Puddle explained. "I'm also level five, so I know Scratch and Leer."

"I know Leer, Taunt, and Scratch. What abilities do you guys have?" Sneasel asked.

"I've got Torrent." Puddle replied. Sneasel turned to me.

"My ability is...um...it's...Flame Body." I stammered, picking the first random ability name that popped into my head. Sneasel gave me a confused look, but didn't say anything.

"Your ability is either Blaze or Flash Fire." Puddle whispered.

"Well, I guess I'll go with you. We're wasting time here. Let's go." I said, coming to the decision that going with Sneasel wouldn't arouse as many questions as not going. Wasn't I supposed to like battles since I was a pokemon?

"Okay. Misty Cavern is over there." Sneasel said, pointing to a small opening in one of the ridges on the outskirts of town. Steeling my nerves, I walked up to the entrance, Puddle and Sneasel right behind me. I took a deep breath, then squeezed through the opening.

In Stormvale Square it was very hot, but when I entered Misty Cavern, I began to shiver. Frost made the walls sparkle, and most of the many pools of water on the ground were frozen over.

Following Puddle and Sneasel, I ran down a tunnel before turning down another tunnel branching off from the main one. A few moments later, the walls opened so that I stood in a small room.

"There! The stairs!" Puddle yelled, pointing at an old-looking set of stone stairs leading downwards. Sneasel frantically shushed him, and soon I saw why. A cubchoo and a geodude stood in front of the stairs, but after a second passed they both rushed at us. Puddle immediately lunged at the geodude, slashing at it with his claws. Sneasel took a swipe at it as well, and the geodude fell to the ground, defeated. I shuddered, wondering if I could ever summon enough courage to fight.

Suddenly, a bolt of icy pain seared through my body as flakes of snow hit my fur. Of course! I'd forgotten about the cubchoo, and it had used Powder Snow on me! My heart thumped in my chest. How was I supposed to fight? Feebly, I put up my front paws in a defensive position, but I fell over onto my back. Before I could flee, the cubchoo jumped on top of me and pinned me to the ground, using Powder Snow again. All of a sudden, the cubchoo's weight fell off of me as Sneasel knocked it out with a couple of scratches. After shooting me a glare, Sneasel pulled me back onto my feet, and we walked down the stairs wordlessly.

During the time spent exploring the second floor, I kept my mouth shut and let my companions fight for me. What had I been thinking, coming here? I was nowhere near strong enough to fight the pokemon here! I glanced at Sneasel. Something seemed odd about her. Maybe it was the way she was a distraught victim one minute and a strong fighter the next. Or maybe it was the fact that something about her seemed so...familiar.

By the time we arrived at the last floor of the mystery dungeon, I had decided to go straight to training the minute this was over. If I was a pokemon, I had to fight. End of story.

"Corsola's lair is over there." Sneasel pointed out, gesturing to a cave that glittered with excessive frost. Cautiously, we crept into the cave. A few feet in, I could see poke, seeds, and orbs piled around the walls, glistening with ice.

"Sneasel? I don't think this is the corsola's lair. Corsola are tropical pokemon, so they wouldn't live in icy places like this." Puddle explained. Sneasel did not respond, just kept walking further into the cave. Puddle turned to me confusedly, his eyes narrowing as he saw how I was taking items off of the floor and putting them in my bag.

"What do you think you're doing, Skye? That's stealing!" he exclaimed.

"It isn't stealing if somebody left this stuff here to ice over." I protested.

"Hey! Paws off!" Sneasel yelled.

"W-wait," I stammered. "This stuff is yours?" Sneasel glared at me icily.

"This stuff is _all_ mine. Oh, and did you check your pouch? I think you're missing something." Sneasel sneered, waving Puddle's pouch in her claws.

"Y-you THIEF!" Puddle roared.

"Call me what you like. If you'd been a bit smarter, you would've asked me about my ability, like I was asking about yours. It's Pickpocket. If you were a bit smarter, you wouldn't have gone looking for a tropical pokemon in an icy cave that an ice-type obviously lives in. If you had been a bit smarter, you losers wouldn't have gotten into this mess!" Sneasel hissed. "But the one to blame is Skye." Sneasel scratched me in the face. Hard. "Happy now? Look what you've made me into."

Rage poured through my veins. I didn't care what Sneasel had said. However, I _did_ care that she'd scratched me.

Growling, I lunged at Sneasel. Instinct kicked in, and I found myself pinning Sneasel to the ground. Sneasel simply lay there, her eyes widening as tears formed.

"You would really attack me?" she whimpered. For a moment, I loosened my grip on her, and she used that moment to squeeze out from under me and claw me on my back. Before she could dodge, I rose to my feet and tackled her again. Puddle jumped into the fight, slashing at Sneasel's head. Angrily, Sneasel thrust me off of her and kicked me in the stomach.

Puddle leaped at Sneasel, but the dark pokemon swung her paw at him, white energy swirling around the fist. The moment it hit Puddle, a block of ice formed around him.

Puddle was frozen solid.

Yowling a battle cry of rage, I thrust myself at Sneasel, tackling her again and again until she finally went limp. As I stepped away from her, she opened her eyes, jumped to her feet, and ran away, leaving Puddle's pouch laying on the floor.

…

Puddle and I walked back to Stormvale Square in silence. I was dumbfounded by the two things I'd discovered while fighting Sneasel: I'd once been a pokemon trainer (as I remembered during the battle), and I actually _liked_ fighting. I'd actually enjoyed something mystery dungeon-related. I looked over at Puddle. Maybe it wasn't just a coincidence that he had found me. Maybe it was fate.

"P-Puddle...can I...maybe...join your rescue team?" I asked. Puddle stared at me, shocked, but then a smile spread across his face.

"Yeah!" Puddle cried.

"You two can't just _become_ a rescue team." a kecleon we were passing by explained, cutting into our moment of delight. "You have to join Lugia's training program."

"Lugia's made it mandatory? The last time I checked, it was optional. Whatever. Lugia is very wise. I'm sure he's doing the right thing." Puddle said confusedly.

"It'll be fine. We need the training anyway." I murmured.

But somewhere deep down in my gut, I felt a strange foreboding feeling.


	4. Team Indigo

"Hey! Puddle! We got you your poke!"

I woke up to the sound of shouting. Crawling out of the bed Puddle had made for me, I walked out of his cave, toward the noise. Bright morning sunlight brightened the shoreline as I turned around to see a feraligatr, a sylveon, and a milotic standing with Puddle close to the water. The feraligatr handed Puddle the fifty poke that Noctowl had taken, but Puddle looked somewhat displeased despite getting his money back.

"So, I've heard that you're planning to start a rescue team." the feraligatr said. "Since I've been in one for quite a while, I thought I could give you some brotherly advice."

"Let me guess: I'm doing everything wrong." Puddle muttered sourly.

"Of course you aren't! This isn't about you. It's about your partner."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Well...it's just that...she thinks she used to be a human. She has barely any memories. And...don't you remember the night she came? Don't you remember the flashes of purple light? Don't you remember how we all had horrible nightmares that night? That isn't a good sign!"

"So you want me to drop her like a rotten oran berry and give up this chance to be part of a rescue team?"

"You can join Team Ace!"

"For the millionth time, I DO NOT WANT TO JOIN YOUR TEAM. I am my own pokemon, not some mini-Feraligatr. And I am NOT dumping my partner just because of some bad dreams."

The feraligatr (who I assumed was named Feraligatr) stepped back. The milotic next to him rolled her eyes.

"Easy, bro. I just wanted to give you some advice. You don't have to listen. Well, I have a job to do, so I guess I'll see you later." Feraligatr murmured.

"Bye." Puddle said through gritted teeth. With a respectful wave, Feraligatr and his companions trudged off.

"That Puddle...it must be _so_ hard, having a brother like him. You must be _so_ embarrassed." the milotic whispered to Feraligatr.

Trying to shrug off what I'd just seen, I slunk back to bed.

…

"Skye! Wake up! We're going to become a rescue team today!"

I stood up, groaning, as Puddle shook me awake. After a quick breakfast of apples, we headed off, walking through Stormvale Square to a group of tents clustered around a cave near the waterfall. Two stone pillars stood near the edge of the tents, with one murkrow standing on each. As we passed through the pillars, the two pokemon turned to face us.

"Whatcha comin' here for?" one murkrow growled.

"We're here to join the program." I replied. The other murkrow's eyes widened in alarm, but she squeezed her expression back to an indifferent one. The feeling of dread I had carried all day grew.

"There ain't no fire-types 'round here, thanks to this ocean. You sure that cyndaquil ain't a spy sent by Ho-oh?" the previously alarmed murkrow spat.

"You know there ain't no more spies. Ho-oh and Lugia are on peaceable terms now, remember?" the first murkrow protested.

"I'm not sure 'bout these two. They seem kinda shifty."

"You say that about everyone that comes through here!"

"Even if she doesn't work for Ho-oh, she's still probably up to something. Since when did a fire-type come here?"

At this point, Puddle glared up at the offending murkrow.

"You can't just not let us in!" he cried. His effort was futile. Spreading their wings, the two murkrows flew to the ground and blocked his path

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

Looking up, towards the sound of the voice, I saw the shape of a honchkrow. With a thud, the large flying-type landed, glaring up at the two murkrows.

"Um...Honchkrow...boss...we were just makin' sure that these suspicious outsiders stay outside." one murkrow stammered.

"Do you idiots not remember what Lugia told us?" Honchkrow growled.

"We didn't think he meant this one…"

"Out of the millions of cyndaquils that live around here?"

"Well...um…"

"You were being stupid and disobeying orders - a double crime. Don't try to deny it."

Honchkrow whacked the murkrows with his wing.

"You two imbeciles are on cleaning duty the rest of the day. I'll find some other murkrows to stand guard."

Nodding, the two murkrows flew off. Honchkrow turned to me.

"So, what is your business here?" he asked.

"We wanted to join the training program and become a rescue team." Puddle replied. Honchkrow nodded.

"Follow me." Honchkrow commanded, flying into the cave. After a few moments of running after him through a tunnel of plain grey stone, Puddle and I emerged into the cavern that contained Luminous Lake.

"Lugia!" Honchkrow cried. The great white shape of Lugia rose from the water, his eyes flashing with delight when he spotted me.

"Skye! Puddle! Are you two here to form a rescue team?" Lugia exclaimed.

"Y-yeah!" Puddle stammered.

"Well, let us begin! Totodile Wavecrash, do you pledge to be honest and valiant in your quest to help pokemon in need whenever possible, and to be loyal to the pokemon of Stormvale Island?"

"I do."

Honchkrow solemnly handed a golden badge to Puddle. Puddle Wavecrash, actually. Of course! I'd forgotten my last name!

"Puddle!" I whispered. "I need a last name!"

"Just wait," Puddle replied calmly.

Lugia turned to me. "Skye Seabourne, do you pledge to be honest and valiant in your quest to help pokemon in need whenever possible, and to be loyal to the pokemon of Stormvale Island?"

"I-I do." I stammered. Seabourne. It was a good last name. After all, I'd been found near the ocean. Seabourne would do until I learned my actual last name.

I was so preoccupied by my thoughts that I didn't notice Honchkrow until he pressed something cold and metallic into my paw - my badge - and walked away.

"The badges that Honchkrow gave to you are your rescue badges. You can use them to warp most pokemon out of dungeons, including yourselves. Now, there is one thing to do before I add your team to the official lists: what do you want to name your team?" Lugia explained.

I pondered for a moment. The only name I could think of was Team Rocket, but I was the only one here who knew what a rocket was.

"Hmm...how about Team Indigo? Fire is red and water is blue, and when you put them together you get indigo." Puddle suggested.

"Sounds good." I agreed.

"Team Indigo it is, then." Lugia announced.

I smiled. Now, I was officially part of Team Indigo.

…

Honchkrow led Puddle and me through the tents that made up the training program headquarters.

"Those are the supply tents." Honchkrow pointed out, gesturing to two brown tents. "The white tents are healing tents. The murkrows sleep in the large black tent, and I sleep in the smaller tent next to it. Unless you have permission, you are not to enter those tents. The fenced-off area by the tents is the training grounds, where you will be expected to train several days a week. Finally, at the edge of the training grounds, there is a jagged outcropping of stone that stretches beyond the coast. It is called Sunset Outcropping. The ground is very unstable there, so under no circumstances is entry to that location allowed." Puddle and I nodded in understanding.

"Well, now that you know where everything is, you are free to explore on your own. Training begins tomorrow." Honchkrow announced, then spread his wings and flew off into the distance. Puddle turned to me cheerfully.

"Well, it looks like we have time to do our first official job request!" he exclaimed.

…

Puddle and I spent the next few hours in a mystery dungeon called Sunny Shoreline, trying to retrieve a buizel's Gold Ribbon. The dungeon seemed to be crawling with seels that hit me hard with super-effective water attacks, but eventually I learned to hide myself behind a wall of smoke from the fire on my back. By the time the sun was setting, Puddle and I were walking out of the dungeon, carrying the Gold Ribbon. After giving it to the buizel (whose name _shockingly_ turned out to be Buizel), we went back to Puddle's cave - no, _our_ cave, ate dinner (chestnuts and pecha berries), and settled into bed.

"Did the sky look like this where you were from?" Puddle asked, looking up into the starry night sky that was visible through the hole in the roof.

"I'm not sure. It looked similar to this, but the stars were in different places." I whispered.

"Do you remember anything about the place you lived in?"

"The buildings were taller, and were usually made out of stone. The technology was much more advanced. There were a lot of cities inhabited by humans, but I don't recall seeing any made by pokemon. I don't remember the names of the cities. I think there was one called New Elm Town or something, and one called Ecruteak City…" I trailed off as I noticed that Puddle was snoring in his bed.

Smiling, I closed my eyes and drifted off.


	5. Missing

_I was dreaming. This I knew from the way I floated through glowing purple mist without feeling cold. Though I shouldn't have, I shivered. There was something odd about this dream. It was as if...someone was watching me._

" _Greetings, Skye."_

 _I turned to see the lunar form of Cresselia._

" _W-what do you want?" I stammered, instantly regretting my choice of words. Wasn't Darkrai going to pose a threat to the world? Wasn't Cresselia Darkrai's enemy?_

" _I do not want anything, child. I_ need _something. When you wake up, you must immediately run to the training grounds. Do not delay a single minute."_

" _Y-yes, Cres- I mean, yes, ma'am- I mean-"_

" _Do not be afraid, child." Cresselia chuckled as she finished speaking._

" _Is there anything else? Are you going to tell me how to save the world?"_

" _You know how to save the world: destroy Darkrai. Completely obliterate him. Erase him from this fair land. Never doubt who your enemy is. Keep your heart pure. When the time is right, I will aid you."_

 _Cresselia's words echoed in my mind. I was slightly comforted by the fact that I had another legendary on my side, but the idea of killing Darkrai was very foreboding. I was only level seven, for crying out loud!_

 _Before I could think a little more, my eyes opened, and I awoke._

…

I leapt to my feet. I had to reach the training grounds as quickly as possible. I ran out of my cave, barely noticing that Puddle wasn't there.

I was halfway to Stormvale Square before I saw the first patrol.

"Hey! Skye!" Wooper cried as I passed him. "Are you a little _behind_ on the situation?"

"Knock it off, Wooper. The flames come from my back, not my...you know what? I'm done wasting time." I hissed, still running.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to help us look?" This time, I stopped and slowly turned to face Wooper, who was accompanied by Puddle, a hippowdon, and a seel.

"Look for what?" I asked.

"Bayleef went missing! We've all been up early looking for her! Well, except for you."

Looking around, I saw the outlines of many more groups of pokemon in the horizon. Turning my gaze to the sky, I noticed that Lugia was circling over the island, a great deal of flying-types with him.

Puddle shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry I didn't wake you up. I was just in such a hurry…"

"It's okay." I said, even though I was a little miffed. "I'm going to go search the training grounds. Do you want to come with me?"

"Honchkrow and the murkrows are already looking there, but I suppose they wouldn't mind a little help."

With that decided, Puddle and I headed off to the training grounds.

…

When I'd first seen the training grounds, I'd thought that they were just as barren as the rest of the island. But as I traveled through them, I walked into areas where there were so many palm trees that I could barely see the sun. These trees weren't the only plants, though. Delicate hibiscus flowers grew along boulders, and a few varieties of cacti stuck out from the ground. But by far, the most magnificent plants were the bougainvillea, which showered me in petals every time I passed through them. Puddle and I saw all of this, but not a single sign of Bayleef, until Puddle saw the book.

We had been searching without success for about two hours when I felt him tap on my shoulder.

"Hey, Skye! Look what I found!" he exclaimed. When I looked at him, he was holding what looked like a book that had gone to the bottom of the sea and back. Most of the pages were missing, and the remaining pages had scratches all over them or were warped from exposure to water. Even worse, I couldn't even read the book. It seemed to be written in some other language that shared no letters with the Regonic alphabet.

"What on earth does that say?" I asked, bewildered.

"Can't you read? No, I suppose you only read humanish or whatever it's called." Puddle replied, answering his own question. "The title of the book is _On Shadow Pokemon_."

Puddle opened the book, frowning. "I can't really make out the intro, but I think it's about some sort of danger...something about idiotic researchers. The author seems kinda conceited." Puddle flipped through a few pages. "Now we're talking! This chapter actually says what shadow pokemon are. This is kind of unsettling...apparently, they're the result of some sort of enchanted shadow - I can't really understand this part - merging with a pokemon. They can be distinguished by the shadows that gather around them, their menacing purple eyes, and their hostility to non-shadow pokemon...something about legendaries...something about a war...this is just getting weirder and weirder. The author is getting more panicked the more he writes. He thinks he's being surrounded...and then it just stops. The rest of the pages are torn out. Honestly, this looks like the writing of a lunatic. Let's just leave it, okay?"

I cringed as Puddle dropped the book onto the sand. If I hadn't known that something would threaten the world, if I hadn't dreamed of the pokemon described in the book, I would've left it. But instead, as soon as Puddle turned his back, I picked it up and placed it in my bag. Perhaps I'd tell Lugia about it later.

Another hour passed before I found a paper lying in a copse of palm trees. It looked fairly new, as if it had only been there for a few hours. Carefully, I picked it up, expecting to see unintelligible markings. Instead, in scraggly handwriting, Regionic letters spelled out a horrible note.

 _Skye,_

 _I've waited long enough._

 _Bayleef is gone._

 _Don't chase the shadows. It will get you nowhere._

 _-Me_

I took a few deep breaths, trying to stabilize myself. The note was obviously just a prank...right? I turned to Puddle, wondering if it would be a good idea to tell him about it. No, he'd just say that it didn't matter…

Though it had felt good on my back earlier, the sun now made me feel crabby and irritable, and as the sun began to sink, Puddle and I called it a day and headed home. An hour later, I was asleep.


	6. Typhoons, Lights, and Puddles

I woke up to see sunlight shining outside. Puddle stood by the beach, looking happy for the first time since Bayleef had disappeared three days ago. I hoped he would finally agree to doing a job.

"Hey, Puddle!" I called out, walking up to him. "Are you up for a job today?"

Puddle smiled, but I thought I could see him hiding a wince. "Y-yeah, Skye!"

Suddenly curious, I asked him, "By the way, why does everyone call you Puddle?"

This time, Puddle couldn't manage to hide his wince. "Well, you see, most totodiles are two feet tall, right? Well, I'm only one foot seven. And… I have a big brother. Big in the sense that he's five inches taller than the average feraligatr. His name is Feraligatr, and he operates some stupid rescue team: Team Ace. Of course, everyone thinks he's soooo amazing. Ugh." With a jolt, I realized that the pokemon Puddle was talking about was the same feraligatr I had seen several days ago. Puddle took a deep breath before continuing. "Puddle was just something Noctowl took to calling me a few years back, and it caught on. If stupid Feraligatr was the ocean, I would just be a little puddle."

I gasped, thinking about how hard it would've been to be nicknamed after the things I lacked. "That's awful! Why does everyone agree to calling you that?"

Puddle shrugged. "Nobody ever asked for my opinion. They just went along with it, thinking I didn't mind. I don't mind, really."

I could tell that he was lying. "But you _do_ mind."

Puddle looked down, and for several moments I wasn't sure if he would respond. "Yes, I do mind," he whispered.

"Totodile, I swear I will never call you Puddle again," I promised. Totodile looked into my eyes and smiled.

"Awww, so cute! You and your girlfriend have a wittle wescue team?"

Totodile and I spun around to see Noctowl and his two cronies sitting on a ledge above our cave.

"Skye isn't my girlfriend, and I don't see YOU walking around with a rescue team!" Totodile squeaked.

"Mhm. Sure, she _definitely_ isn't your girlfriend. Nice job sending your brother's team to get your money back, by the way." Noctowl sneered.

"Oh, and by the way, we just became a rescue team," Steelix grunted. "We're Team Typhoon!"

Totodile stepped back, his eyes widening. "But...when we were young-"

"When we were young, you were still as pathetic as you are now. If anything, you've gotten worse," Noctowl hooted. Steelix and Ariados exchanged a confused look. Ignoring Totodile's glare, Noctowl spoke again. "But I'm not here about you. I'm here about your girlfriend." Shoving Totodile aside, Noctowl, Steelix, and Ariados circled around the rock that I had pressed against, petrified, when Noctowl had first shown up. I stared daggers at them, hoping they would go away, but they did not.

"W-well? What do you want?" I hissed, trying and failing to sound brave.

"Where do you come from? Why are you _really_ here?" Noctowl shoved his head so close to my face that I could smell his breath.

"I don't really remember anything, except that I was a human…" I trailed off, seeing the scorn in Noctowl's eyes.

"That's what they all say. Find a more convincing lie! Don't you realize that the time for humans in this world is over? The last time one was here, they literally defeated the darkness in our hearts. How can anything bad happen now?" Noctowl snapped. I shrank back against the rock. Was I going to have to fight something scary, too? How would I survive?

Noctowl's eyes narrowed. "You know what I think? I think you're a spy for Ho-oh! I think you're going to betray us all, _fire-type_!"

"She's not a spy, you IDIOT! Now GO AWAY!" Totodile screamed.

Noctowl rolled his eyes. "Fine." Shooting a glare at me, he added, "But you bet I'm going to uncover your treachery, spy!"

All of a sudden, I heard footsteps, and I saw a smug looking clamperl, a torchic, and a pichu that was holding a stack of cookies.

"Yoo hoo! Noctowl! Don't tell me you're bothering with a loser team! We are your _true_ rivals, right?" the torchic exclaimed.

Noctowl sighed. "Of course you are, Torchic. These are just some stupid heads who think they're better than us."

"Wait, what's going on? Why haven't I seen you three before? Who are you? I'm confused," Totodile wondered.

"Of course _you_ are," Ariados huffed.

Torchic narrowed her eyes at Totodile. "We're Clamperl, Torchic, and Pichu: Team Light from Pokemon Village. We are rivals with Team Typhoon over there."

"Want a cookie?" Pichu offered, holding out a chocolate chip cookie to me. I saw no harm in a little cookie, so I took it and popped it into my mouth. It was bland and chewy, but I managed to swallow it down.

For a minute Team Typhoon and Team Team Light just stared at each other, then Noctowl slowly flew off into the distance, Ariados and Steelix following him. Torchic gave me one final glare, then walked away with Clamperl. Pichu handed Totodile three cookies before running after the rest of his team.

I watched them go for a few moments before turning to Totodile. There had been something weird that Totodile said...something about when he and Noctowl were young. Then, something horrible occurred to me: I hadn't ever heard about Totodile's parents!

"Totodile, do your parents live somewhere around here?" I asked tentatively.

"No." Totodile whispered. Seeing my pitying expression, he added, "They're still alive!"

I gave him a look. "What happened?"

"My brother and I lived with our parents on Dusk Island, an island about a mile from here. It's a mystery dungeon now, but it wasn't back then. Noctowl and his parents lived there too, when Noctowl was just Hoothoot. He was nice back then. I played with him and Feraligatr - he was Croconaw back then. We pretended we were a rescue team called Team Typhoon. We were all so happy, and then everything went wrong," Totodile stifled a sob. "There was this huge storm, and the whole island became a mystery dungeon. My parents, and Hoothoot's parents...they went hostile. They attacked me, and I ran into a cave. I was so scared!" Totodile trembled, a tear slipping down his cheek. "I would've died or gone hostile if it hadn't been for Croconaw and Hoothoot. They ran with me to the edge of the island, and we tried to swim away. I was too little to swim very far, so Hoothoot carried me while he flew. It all went smoothly until Croconaw got here before us. Hoothoot tried to catch up, but he hit a rock and broke a wing. The two of us plummeted into the water, but Lugia found us and saved us. I owe my life to him. But...after I came here, Hoothoot changed. He's never been the same." Puddle broke into tears. I imagined what it would have been like to lose my parents. Then I realized that I'd already lost them.

"I still don't remember my parents," I whispered, holding Totodile tight. A single tear welled in my eye, then another. Before long, the two of us were weeping for the parents we had lost.

We never did take a job that day.


End file.
